Dart guns are way cooler than they were when I was a little’un.

All these foam launching hunks of plastic are appealing to a kid at heart like me, but I’m thinking the Double Barrel is the way to go – I can saw this thing off at the ends and run around shell-ejecting like Mad Max! And it’ll only cost me 7 bucks…

But apparently I’m late to the party, as about eight thousand other people have had this idea before myself, and done a better job of it too. Some impressive examples are linked below. Note that if the rear stock is removed, an alternative and shorter cocking mechanism must be put in place – or you can just manually pull the string.

I’m not exactly sure what population constitutes the Nerf-Modding community. Perhaps those who enjoy the whimsical nature of the design? When airsoft isn’t an option? Whatever the case, there is a sizable online community of budding mechanical engineers and talented model painters who take these toys to the extreme. To each their own, I guess.

Admittedly, my new sawed-off shotgun is a blast to mess around with, and I can shoot people in the face without injuring anyone as severely as my more expensive alternatives!

Useful linkage -

Air Restrictor Removal Guide
Internal Reassembly

The 1911 design was a breakthrough for auto-loading handguns as well as an iconic firearm in WWII and Vietnam. That’s why we see so many of them and their clones in airsoft and the real steel market. As much as I loved my good old KWC Tanfoglio Witness, the fact is that either of the two sub $20 spring pistols facing off in this review will out shoot it every time.

First up we have the Umarex Combat Zone Stryker which is a newer offering that can be found at stores in the US. It also features a nifty accessory rail.

19.99 + S/H
100 FT Range / 210 FPS (.2g)

I also finally picked up the classic UHC 1911. This is a long running, heavyweight spring replica with good performance for its price range.

$19.99 + S/H
100 FT Range / 200 FPS (.2g)

The first thing you’ll notice when these guns are side by side is that they’re basically identical. The packaging and trademarks are different, but these two certainly came from the same manufacturer. Nevertheless, a number of differences come up upon closer inspection.

Aesthetics -
Very similar, both guns have the classic 1911 look, open ejection port, and lack of any real licensing. Detail is still good all the way around. The faux-wood textured grips look like a bad Jersey Shore tan up close, but fine at casual glance.

The Stryker features a unique accessory rail that you could mount a small light or laser on. This adds a lot to the look of the gun and has some functionality. The rail can be un-bolted and removed, although you’ll leave two small empty holes on both sides of the pistol.

Weight/Balance -
The UHC is noticeably heavier and better balanced. This is due to the fact that both the magazine and receiver contain lead weights in them. The Stryker doesn’t feel bad, but it’s certainly lighter.

Magazine -
The UHC includes a 22 round slow load magazine, which is good capacity for a pistol.

The Stryker features the exact same exterior design, but only holds 14 rounds ready to fire coupled with a 95 round reservoir in place of the UHC’s lead weight. Same idea as the magazine included with the full metal 1911. Having this extra ammo on hand may be nice in certain situations, but I personally hate this kind of mag. They feel too light and flimsy, make a huge racket rattling around, and are still difficult to load.

Performance -
All other things equal, I like the look of the Stryker and the feel of the UHC. So it comes down to performance.

Neither have smooth slide action, but this is hard to come by for any low-end replica with an open ejection port. Both have working grip and slide safety’s.

Actual shooting performance is admirable – very good range and accuracy, good projectile speed. The only noticeable difference seemed to be that the Stryker had more aggressive hop-up, which resulted in a straighter flight path and a few more feet of range before falling.

So, neither of these 1911′s are perfect, but they both get close. Sticking the weighted UHC mag in the Stryker adds sufficient weight and is a good compromise. Overall, either of these spring pistols are a great choice in this range of econo airsofting.

• Modeled After: Benelli M4
  Super 90 (M1014)
• Hop-Up: Fixed, .2g or Heavier
• 290 FPS / 90 Feet
• BlazingToys @ $60 + 9 S/H

3 Round Burst
Shell Loaded
Shotgun Spread
Loud Firing
Heavy Pump
Horrible Stock

Ah, the shotgun. There are many airsoft “shotguns”, but only a few actually live up to the name. The three-round burst replicas may not be as practical as all the other pump-action rifles out there, but they’re definitely a lot more realistic and pretty damn cool if I do say so myself.

The TSD SD87 series is comprised of shell-loaded pump action three-barreled shotguns. These guns can be found under a few different brand names, including, although the original manufacturer is in many cases Double Eagle. The more expensive brands, however, will likely come with higher quality accessories/modifications out of the box.

The SD87TL is the full-barrel length collapsible stock version. It’s a recognizable firearm from the Left 4 Dead series, and that collapsible stock made it an attractive option – but unfortunately a bad one, more on that later.

Right out of the box this shotgun included a nice sling, some BBs, speed loader, cleaning rod, manual, and Velcro-strapped shell holder. The rubber material used for certain parts of the gun are also notably smelly at this point – but letting it air out for a while makes this less noticeable. Hopefully it won’t kill too many braincells in the meantime.

Also included were 4 “high capacity” 30 round shells. The shells look quite realistic and totally bad-ass when slotted into the stock holder. Since the gun itself shoots 3 pellets per shot, a 30 round shell yields 10 shots total, which is quite enough in most situations. Be aware, there are also many 10 round shells available online, which will hardly get you 4 shots before having to reload.

Many pictures online show the shells being stored on the receiver of the gun, but since this would cover up the shell-ejection port, you must use it on the stock, which doesn’t necessarily fit as snugly as it should.

Having 3 barrels, the pump action is definitely not easy. You certainly won’t be able to one-hand Terminator pump the thing, as it requires significant force to cock back all the way. The sound it makes, however, is satisfying – and it becomes slightly easier after being broken in. All these barrels also create a fairly loud firing sound, but hey, it’s still quieter than a real shotgun. It can also be slam fired (holding the trigger down), although I wouldn’t recommend it.

The shotgun has some serious cool-factors, including the shells, which you can forcibly eject from the gun to reload. The three pellets will also fire out in a slight spread, probably a foot apart by the time they reach 25 feet. This isn’t much, but definitely enough to hit multiple targets with one shot while still maintaining accuracy.

Actual shooting performance is decent with surprising range and good speed. The top barrel is also just as accurate as a spring rifle, although the other two pellets can fade off to the sides. Once you get the hang of reloading the shells, you can put quite a few bursts downrange quickly.

But now I must complain. The aesthetics look quite nice, although not necessarily realistic. This TSD version also included a small accessories rail and tactical sites, although they were glued onto the barrel at a bad angle. The biggest problem, however, comes in the form of a completely wacky stock design. The stock is held to the buffer tube by a weak little push-pin that simply doesn’t hold it steady at all. If you put some pressure on the stock, it will simply collapse. On top of that, the stock will twist badly in either direction. One direction is purposeful, so that you can unlock the stock to extend it, but there isn’t enough tension to keep it from messing up your shoulder weld. Yuck.

Perhaps I got a bad model, I haven’t heard many other complaints about the stock. But that said, I’d strongly recommend staying away from the collapsible version. If you’re using this replica as a sidearm, you probably don’t want a stock in the first place – and otherwise you’ll be glad you’ve got a fixed stock simply for the stability.

Also, although the full-length barrel may be appealing, the actual inner barrel is the same length on both the long and stubby versions – so you’re getting no benefit from that extra tube.

I personally traded the reviewed model in for a short barrel fixed stock Double Eagle version of the shotgun. Although the build and quality control is noticeably less, the gun itself is much more solid feeling and a more practical addition to the collection. Held onto the nicer sling and extra shells though.

• Modeled After: US 7.62mm M14
• Hop-Up: Adjustable, .2g Recommended
• 280 FPS / 85 Feet
• Airsplat.com @ $40 + $15 S/H

Fast & Accurate
Range
Imposing Aesthetics
Sweet Magazine
Big
Heavy
Mostly Plastic
Difficult Operation

This impressive spring rifle is manufactured by UkArms and imported under a number of brand names, including TSD and Matrix. The shortened version of each are known as the M116 and SDM1 respectively. These rifles are also available in many different “packages” which include cheap but functional accessories ranging from bipods and rail systems to sights and flashlights.

You can’t normally find guns like this at such a low price. That’s why I was so impressed when it arrived to find that the thing wasn’t total crap – in fact, far from it. The rifle arrives in the box in two pieces, which you must assemble. Once completed, you’ll realize it truly is a full size replica – and has quite a bit of weight to top it off. The M14 is very solid, balanced, heavy, and features a satisfying amount of metal. While the main body is mostly plastic, features like the rear-adjustable sight and forward barrel assembly are metallic. The charging handle, however, isn’t metal and begins to show the wear of plastic sliding on plastic after some use. It’s also fairly heavy due to it’s sheer size and moderately difficult to cock. (hehe).

The detail on the rifle is sufficient to keep it lookin’ good on the battlefield. There are no markings save for a “made in china” but there are plenty of checkered grips, and the front barrel assembly is very good looking, featuring a flash suppressor and bipod mount. The sights are also adjustable, aligned properly, and the gun features an open ejection port.

Depending on the package you picked up, you may have some added accessories. The rail mount system this model came with can be slid over the top and fixed with one small screw. From there you can mount any number of er rail accessories. I think the system makes this gun look wicked, but some people may find it detracts from the classic look. The sight which was included in this package is cheap and not adjustable, but just accurate enough to be usable. The flashlight I can’t comment on since it didn’t come with enough batteries… But dude, it still looks cool. It’s also worth mentioning that the reviewed model included a cleaning rod, a pair of decent-looking shooting glasses, and a sling that I wouldn’t trust given the weight of this rifle.

The large, 37 round box magazine is one of my favorite features of this gun. It does have to be speed loaded, but with this high capacity it won’t be much of an issue. The magazine locks and loads in the well very nicely and makes a satisfying click. This M14 gets high marks for loading pizazz.

You may think a gun at this price could hardly be worthy of bearing the title of “sniper rifle”, but this model M14 puts out an impressive performance that can back it up. The iron sights are adjustable for pinpoint accuracy, and that’s what the gun will deliver out to a significant range. Adjustable hop up means you can perfect the spin as well, although the spring still isn’t powerful enough to handle heavy-weight BBs. .2g do just fine. This is safely one of the most accurate, fastest, and powerful long-range rifles you can find under 50 bucks. It would serve as a sniper rifle very nicely for econo-skirmish, and probably scare away anybody who gets to close in the first place…

• Modeled After: Sig Saur P228 (M11)
• Hop-Up:Fixed, for .12 / .2g 6mm BBs
• Lowest Advertised: 190 FPS / 80 Ft Range
• Purchased From: ShortyUSA for $20 + S/H

Big Magazine
Accuracy
Compact/Ergonomic
Low FPS
Low Power
Weak Safety

This impressive little compact is manufactured by UHC and bears fully licensed Sig trademarks. The pistol itself although relatively lightweight, feels exceptionally sturdy, balanced, and is heavier than most in the $20 price range. The frame is nice and compact and the gun is very ergonomic and comfortable to hold. Aesthetically, the outside bears numerous trademarks/serial numbers/etc. that are engraved in various places – I was impressed by the attention to detail of these and the outer features all around.

The action of pulling the slide is very short and crisp and the gun has a short trigger pull, allowing you to load a round quickly and fire off accurate shots slightly faster than normal. The piece also features a 2-piece open ejection port that adds to the detailed look of the gun. The hammer, although sort of functional, is pretty floppy and serves no real purpose. It would benefit from a stiffer spring.

The overall look is flat black plastic, not quite a matte finish. It’s decent quality though and seems more than adequate at the $20 bracket. It is quite obviously mostly plastic, and has no metal save for the necessary internals. The safety located on the left side of the gun is also very weak and a potential break point, but at least it has one!

Performance wise, this is a peculiar sidearm that may fit your needs nicely. It has a large clip, which hold 24 rounds and can either be manually or speed loaded. This is overkill for a sidearm, but works nicely if you don’t want to worry about reloading. It’s also compact, which means it will fit nicely in a holster (or even a pocket) without taking up unnecessary space.

To top it off, this gun is ridiculously accurate up to a certain range. Although the barrel is short, an aggressive hop up system lets a .2g BB fly perfectly straight out to 80-90 feet. That said, the FPS is noticeably lacking. Still, you won’t be using a compact pistol for sniping anyone. So with that aside, it’s a cheap and perfectly suitable choice for use alongside a primary – as well as a close-range marksman’s tool.

Colt 1911-A1 Military Full Metal

• Modeled After: Colt M1911A1
• Hop-Up: Fixed .12/.2g BBs
• Lowest Advertised: 200 FPS / 100 ft
• Purchased from ShortyUSA for $30 + 9 Shipped

Full Metal
Mid-Cap Magazine*…
FPS
Looks almost used n’ gritty. Straight up Platoon status.
Printed Trademarks
…*made of plastic. That’s weak sauce.
Range
Loose Safety

Being a fan of the 1911, I sprung at the chance to pick up a full metal military replica that wouldn’t cost me 4 years of daily Taco Bell. It’s hard to avoid Cybergun products if you buy a gun with trademarks, and this one makes no exception. Although the trademarks are correct and fully licensed, they are only printed on with white paint, as opposed to engraved. This detracts from the authentic aesthetic almost as much as having the trademarks would add in the first place. Still, they’re legit. The gun, as stated, is full metal. It has good balance and heft and feels pretty solid. It has a very rough sort of finish too it, and some great looking faux-wood hand grips. A prominent seam-line runs down the top and bottom of the body however. Overall, it mimics a used military sidearm well. It feels more Vietnam than most. This gun should age well, like a fine wine. Except probably not.

The trigger and hammer are metal and have some nice inertia going with them. The action is surprisingly smooth and it sounds good and solid to fire. The safety leaves some to be desired. It functions, and locks the trigger and slide, but is loose and the slide becomes locked inadvertently. For shooting, this is annoying, and for a skirmish, this is deadly. Not that people usually die during airsoft, but you know.

The clip, on the other hand, is a downer. It’s very noticeably plastic when holding a full metal gun. Not necessarily high quality plastic either. It also has very little weight, due to an internal BB well. The actual clip holds around 12 rounds, which must be re-loaded from the 50 round reservoir. Sort of like a wind up magazine without the wind up. It’s a clever idea, but in reality it takes longer than just using a speed loader, makes the magazine too lightweight, and rattles.

The performance of this gun is on par with a $20 pistol, or at least one with some unimpressive hop-up. Although both the FPS and power are both noticeably impressive, the hop-up only works decently after you warm it up. Most shots with .12g and .2 have only mediocre range.

You pay $20 for performance and like $15 for the full-metal aspect. At this price range, it’s a really cool collector’s item – not a remarkable sidearm.

KWC/Cybergun Smith & Wesson SW1911 Ultra Grade

• Modeled After: Smith & Wesson SW1911
• Hop-Up: Fixed .20g / Up to .25g
• Lowest Advertised: 250 / 220 FPS, 80 ft Range
• Purchased from ShortyUSA for $63 + $9 Shipped

Shooting Performance
Look, feel, action
Weight & Balance
Magazine Issues
Trademarks and Printed Text

Okay, so paying $70 for a spring pistol doesn’t exactly fit the “econo” airsofting viewpoint, but I couldn’t resist. The best spring pistol money can buy? I don’t know, but it’s got to be pretty damn close. Save for a few gripes, the SW1911 Ultra Grade is an example of completely unnecessary overage of springer performance and beautifulness. If it wasn’t so fun to shoot, I’d frame it on my wall.

This 1911 is heavyweight, and very nicely balanced. You get very good inertial feelings when picking this thing up. Haha, get it? The build quality is also outstanding, I can’t find a seem line anywhere… The model isn’t full metal, but it contains metal in the important spots. The plastic is also high-quality and feels good. The gun is solid, no wobblies save for the magazine, which sits a tiny bit loose.

The SW1911 is a wicked looking real steel gun. Although this is pretty much a replica of the stock version, the stock version looks custom made. A slick finish, “beaver-tail” grip safety, nice grips, vented trigger and hammer, elevation-adjustable combat sites, and forward-slide grip give this gun a mean look. The ejection port stays closed, but the metal “barrel” insert looks good and is engraved with “45 AUTO”. It also includes engraved sequential serial numbers, and (since this is a Cybergun product) it’s actually legally licensed to bear S&W’s trademarks in the US. This particular version has the S&W logo and “SW1911″ only printed on the slide in white, it looked like some other versions of the gun had this engraved, and IMO that would look better. On the ejection side of the slide you also get a nice big warning block of text printed in the same white font. Meh.

The thumb safety and grip safety both work nicely, as does the working slide-lock, which will let you know if you’re cocking with the magazine empty. Here’s when we get to a few noticeable problems. For one, after inserting a new magazine you’ll have to pull-back on the locked slide to chamber the first round – you can’t just release the slide-lock, and that’s a big part of the fun…

Secondly, the magazine is the classic speed loading design. It fills up nice and fast, but only holds 12 rounds, drops a few BBs if ejected early, and doesn’t auto-release the spring when inserting into the well. It’s very nicely constructed, and full metal, but doesn’t cut it from a high-quality airsoft standpoint. There are probably compatible alternatives out there.

Pre-shooting aside, the performance of this gun is epic. The slide action is super smooth, trigger pull isn’t super great but that’s not a big deal. Using .2g BBs, performance is superb for a pistol. The SW1911 has comparable range compared to the M14 “Sniper Rifle”, which is a low-level but full size spring rifle, although the pistol is notably less accurate and less consistent, at least with .2g BBs. Still, srlsy. It’s got a lot of power as well, rivaling the punch of the powerful Model 17.

The existence of a spring airsoft pistol at this price range is reaching impracticality. If seeking competition, you should move on to gas guns, while those looking for performance should just be buying pellet guns. Then again, there are those of us who just want to have one of the best spring pistols available. Springers are simple and it appears that this one will last, even with a good amount of abuse. Unnecessary? Yes. But completely awesome? Also yes.

UHC Neonfire Heavy Weight US Military M9

• Modeled After: M9 (Beretta 92F)
• Hop-Up: .12 / .2g 6mm BBs
• Lowest Advertised: 280 / 210 FPS / 100ft Range
• Purchased from ShortyUSA for $20 +$8 Shipped

Range
Accuracy
Weight
Balance
Action

The UHC Heavy M9 series is a cheap gun that thinks it’s an expensive one, and has the performance to back it up.

This is a very detailed and attractive looking Beretta. It features trademarks (fake ones at least) and realistic engravings on the slide. Most of the gun is cheaper feeling plastic, but it feels solid and good in the hand for the most part, save for the slide and weight issues. The trigger is double action and will cycle the hammer, but not fire. This M9 has one functional safety, near the right thumb.

Touted as a “Heavy Weight” model, the UHC M9 weighs in at about as much as some top-end spring pistols, however, most of this heft seems to be in the back-end – the barrel is awfully neglected. The gun has weight, but not much balance. It’s still a noticeable upgrade.

Magazine capacity is a manually loaded 22 rounds, about as high a capacity as you’ll get for a pistol. As with all these similar magazines, however, it’s going to be quite difficult to get those BBs shoved in there towards the end.

Oddly, the most unsatisfying aspect of this gun is the action. Racking the slide is a very not-smooth and plasticy-feeling process. Sorry for my lack of quality adjectives here, but it just sort of sucks. Although the gun has an open ejection port, it seems to leave the slide very feeble in it’s construction. Every time you cock this pistol it feels like a little plastic piece somewhere inside is liable to just fall out. Meh.

Once you get over the chunky slide action, pure bliss awaits. The trigger pull is very short and nice, and the actual shooting performance is incredible for a gun at this price. It’s significantly better than the UTG MK23, and rivals the performance (although not as consistently) of the ultra grade SW1911, which was 40 bucks more.

The UHC Heavy M9 obviously has some quality internals and a nice hop-up system. For accuracy, .2g BBs are definitely recommended. The look and performance of this gun is great – so people watching you use it will be impressed. It’s only once you actually use the gun that you’ll notice the minor annoyances… but when it shoots as well as it does, you can’t complain.

• Modeled After: Walther P99 QA
• Hop-Up: None .12g 6mm BBs
• Lowest Advertised: 200 FPS / 20ft Range
• Purchased from Evike.com for $13 +9 Shipped

Tons-O-Crap Included
Magazine Capacity
Everything Else

As one shuffles around in the dregs of airsoft products, you’re likely to run into a Jieke gun or two. The pistol package deals, in this case the P99 version caught my eye because they loaded practically every accessory imaginable onto a little compact pistol.

Oddly enough, although I bought this gun for the novelty of having these accessories, they’re so unsatisfactorily cheap feeling that I found the best part of this package was the gun itself and it’s magazine. Not that either of these perform remarkably well in the first place.

I purchased the “P99G” package from evike, but received the “P99E” (or “99E”, since the P has a stylish white sticker over it for copyright purposes). The only difference appeared to be that the E came in a box, where the G variant was supposed to come in a plastic case. No biggy, the thing was only 13 bucks.

Accessories included a flashlight, laser sight, optical site, railing system, extended (a decent 20 round) magazine, and mock silencer. Batteries, screws/bolts for securing the accessories, elastic band for laser-button securing and a nifty screwdriver, some BBs and ugly safety glasses were also included.

These add-ons are of the quality you could expect from a dollar store dart gun, and are a pain to re-attach. Bummer. Both the laser and optical sites are not adjustable, nor anywhere near accurate. When attached, they just sort of bring the quality of the gun down to a level that makes you want to cry, because you know if they were just a little bit better this thing would be so awesome.

Actual performance can be visualized by throwing a .12 g BB and multiplying that distance by one and a half times. The gun feels decently solid, but the action is scruffy, and the firing mushy and tinny sounding. The mock silencer also noticeably lowers the FPS. Meh.

Regardless, this would still make a cool movie prop with some touching-up. This gun is worth the 13 dollars but not worth the shipping. Pick one up next time you’re in china!

• Modeled After: Walther PPK
• Hop Up: Hell if I should know… but it has “Super-Spin!” (.12g 6mm)
• Lowest Advertised: 200 FPS / 15ft Range

Price
Solid Feel
Sub-Compact
Functional at Close Range

I love cheap airsoft guns. What better way to celebrate than review the epitome of cheap airsofting; the $3.99 Neonfire Secret Agent gun? As prideful as I am about this investment, the name “Secret Agent gun” just doesn’t cut it, so I’ll be referring to Neonfire’s adorable little piece of crap by it’s product number from now on. Thank you.

Sure, Daniel Craig can run around with his P99, but we all know that the real James Bond (Sean Connery), wouldn’t be caught dead without his trusty PPK. This one can’t thread a silencer, and it’s actually marked as “YIGU AUTOINATIC GUN”, but at four bucks you can’t really expect anything. I didn’t, and I was pleasantly surprised.

This little tiny gun, straight out of it’s little tiny box, feels and slides solidly. There are really only a few moving parts on this gun, so if it wasn’t solid something would be horribly wrong. The gun itself looks very plastic-y, but it feels comfortable and the action is nice. The clip is tiny but holds a modest 11 rounds and has a functioning spring-lock mechanism.

When you’re actually shooting this thing, you get the feeling it’s more… sort of spitting a BB out, rather than actually shooting it, but at the very least it’s spitting efficiently with what it’s got. You will consistently hit a target that is within punching distance, but for anything past 10-15 feet you’re probably better off throwing the gun like a ninja star. I haven’t put to many rounds through mine, but it’s simple enough to last through moderate wear and tear. I’ve never even had a jam.

So, if you’re looking for the most awesome/regrettable party favor ever, or you just want to tack one of these onto your order, go for it. Otherwise, put that money to good use and buy yourself a few week’s worth of Ramen Noodles.